After returning from clearing the ape lair smelling of sweet incense, the party enjoyed several days of unusual generosity in Osrendell’s one tavern. The many offers of free mugs of ale gradually reduced just as the whole routine was becoming tiresome. Nothing much happened for nearly two weeks (9/15 – 9/26) except that Ollie produced three potion-holders, two of which he gave to Aderian and Saul. These were belt’s worn diagonally across the chest with a small bag attached to hold a potion bottle. He placed a flask of anti-toxin in the pouch for quick access.
Aderian, who had missed the expedition to the ape lair had been working with dwarves he bought from slavery, helping them adjust to life on the island. He instructed them on the art of being sailor, and he liked the idea of the dwarves moving into the former ape lair. Although these dwarves had never lived underground on Tuiria, there was some notion that they’d be more comfortable living in an underground compound.
Saul, absent for about a month, reported that he’d been searching for an armorer to construct a suit for his lion like he had for a lion he lost many months before. No armorers were available on the Naked Isle.
Senator Placus Avitus
On the 27th, a huge warship pulled into the harbor, causing a crowd to form. The ship was named The Lady Elphine, and a plank was lowered to allow a dignitary to disembark. Trumpeters played a familiar imperial tune followed by the announcement of Senator Placus Avitus. The graying man in a black toga was attended by several fighting men and clerics. Vesstan, an elf with bushy eyebrows and a squinting gaze who was known as the informal chieftain of Osrendel, greeting Avitus with obvious pleasure. Zhargrave soon stepped forward honor Avitus.
It was noted that The Lady Elphine was the largest ship of war seen by Tienarth’s Raiders, and while most of her crew did not immediately come ashore, it was estimated her fighting force was near a hundred trained warriors in additions to servants and sailors.
Zhargrave walked with Avitus, sharing the object of this new mission: the partly-constructed temple. It was nearly half-finished, with a complete roof, and altar and the framework for walls. He enjoyed a crew of 80 workers which put him on track to complete the temple by the end of the year. Avitus praised Zhargrave for his pious work and for doing his best to complete his original mission to investigate Carrasthinian’s island. Zhargrave mentioned his gratitude for being rescued by Tienarth’s Raiders. Recognizing this, Avitus invited the raiders to join him at his dining table during the feast planned for that night. Ollie, Saul and Aderian accepted the invitation..
While speaking with Avitus and his men, they learned that the rebellion (intentionally not described as a civil war) had been crushed. The trouble was over a rebel who sought to purge all demihumans from the empire. Emperor Elian IX Mercoservus Piesvivamont remained in control. They also heard a story of green dragon seen flying over an island 3 days to the northeast.
Avitus announced that he planned to spend a month on the island in order to lend some of his men to Zhargrave’s temple construction project. After this time, he would continue on to Fort Whitevault, the empire’s largest settlement in the Southern Seas.
When the topic of Carrasthinian came up, Avitus thanked the Raiders for their assistance in rescuing Zhargrave and encouraged them to give up their attempts to challenge the lich. He assured them that the empire would deal with this evil, that they had appropriate resources for dealing with the undead.
When asked about other nations in the Southern Seas, sailors mentioned a few among many others. Names given were Yokrayga, Nudrela, Awhax, Heglia, Stronia, and Egrad. All were described as independent nations with which the empire had cordial relations.
Aderian, Saul and Ollie seemed in agreement that the the significant imperial force was a challenge to overcome. They did not appreciate the discouragement from confronting Carrasthinian, partly because it meant losing out on whatever treasure remained in the lich’s tower. Saul fantasized about using a spell to warp the wood of the warship, perhaps sinking it in the harbor. It may have been a default attitude of distrust of authority or strangers, but they even considered a ruse involving directing Avitus towards the Island of Lonesome Shoulders where his ship might be sunk among the many other wrecks there.
To the Tower
The next day (9/28), Ollie organized a small party to make another attempt to visit the tower on the east side of the island. He was convinced something interesting remained to find in the tower, especially since an elf had returned weeks ago with a waterlogged book bearing six eyes on its cover. He convinced only Aderian and Saul to come along, including Saul’s lion. He also tracked down Duko, the frog-hunting elf, and hired him as a guide to the tower.
During the uneventful trip of two miles through the swamps, Ollie promoted the worship of Phakta to Duko. The elf endured the line of conversation placidly. When they arrived at the tower, Duko headed off to hunt frogs but agreed to return in two hours. They headed into the tower and headed down the stairs to the underground areas. These rooms were much as they had been months before except that most of any small items were removed. No books remained in the empty shelves. Aderian busted up several barrels of sand because he was curious if anything was hiding inside. Nothing was found.
Saul hopped into the pool at the lowest level. A pair of orcas sped towards him aggressively, so he climbed out of the pool, uninterested in a fight. Satisfied that nothing of interested would be found below ground, they soon climbed up the levels of the tower. The four bedrooms on the lowest level were opened in turn. The first room was still filled with black fungus. Although they considered that something of value could be under the blanket of mold, they agreed not to disturb it.
In the second room, Aderian made an offering of two silver pieces to the four-armed shrine. He had a momentary feeling of receiving a blessing. He felt that if he needed to escape, nothing could stop him. It was an odd sensation he likened to eating picked cave worm larvae.
In the third room, they righted a toppled statue of an elf. The forth room brought back chilling memories for Ollie who once confronted a vampire there. This room had been cleaned of all effects since they were last there.
Finally, they climbed the stairs up the levels of the tower, soon finding themselves on the roof. The green portal remained there, glimmering in the sunlight. Ollie bravely stepped through the portal to find himself in a cave where several dead stirges lay decaying. Aderian, Saul and the lion followed. They looked out of the cave mouth to look north over more swamp. A river ran to one side of the cave mouth and down to the ocean. They climbed up to the peak from where they could look in all directions. The tower could be seen a few miles away.
Deeper into the Swamp
They returned through the portal, descended the tower and began walking northwest into the swamp (hex 603). Duko was not waiting for them and they didn’t wait for him. They just marched into the wilderness. Getting closer to the ocean waters, they noticed a huge tree with wooden planks attached to the trunk, making a stairway up to a platform. On the platform they found a circular stone bearing writing they could not decipher. Each of them spent considerable time studying it with no success of even recognizing the language. Aderian picked up the heavy stone to look beneath it. They considered carrying it away. In the end, they left it as it was.
Crossing the river they’d seen from the cave mouth, they explored more swamp along the coast (hex 403). They found a hut among piles of rock. The face of a gorilla appeared in the doorway of the hut. Aderian waved. The gorilla waved its primitive hand in response. The former pirate offered a piece of dried meat from his rations, which the gorilla accepted. Four other gorillas emerged from the hut.
Presently, Duko arrived, merely noting that he had continued his hunt when they had not been waiting for him after the two hours had passed. The elven hunter explained that these gorillas were called Rataev’s clan. They were friendly and tasked with guarding the elven graveyard. Aderian asked pointed questions about the contents of the graves. Duko explained that ancient graves could likely contain valuables, though his people had lost all memory of who was buried there. Generally, he explained, his people stayed away from disturbing the dead out of respect for them and to avoid terrible consequences.
The party moved on, finding the hut where they fought giant bees months before (hex 404). The bees had not returned. They headed directly towards Osrendell, climbing back up the steep slopes of the mountain. Suddenly, several flying shapes were spotted. Saul responded by producing a cloud of obscuring mist. They heard the howls of apes, which they guessed were the graveyard guardians coming to join the fight. Aderian lit a candle in order to get soft wax, which he advised they all should stick into their ears. He concluded they faced harpies, which he knew could sing an enchanting song.
Deaf and essentially blind their the cloud of mist, the watched several rocks sail past them, bouncing on the turf. Not long after, an ape with huge wings presented itself, slashing with sharp claws. The lion, filled with bloodlust, leapt out of the mist. Flying apes swirled around, hurling rocks. The rest of them stumbled out of the cloud to face the apes, which soon landed to rake them with claws. Except Duko, who kept himself hidden and out of the fight.
They suffered a few scrapes, Saul taking the worst of it. When about half of the apes had fallen to blows from the four of them, the rest retreated into the higher elevations of the mountain. Aderian wanted to pursue them, as did the lion, but Saul was badly hurt. He called his lion back and Aderian offered a healing potion.
They did not returned directly to town, though. They first went to the ape lair because they wished to fetch the brazier. Most of the dwarves from Tuiria were their. Ollie encouraged them to begin mining, and he offered a pickaxe. None of them had any skills in mining, but they accepted the gift without betraying any intention of following through. Ollie sat in the padded chair again, once again gaining acuteness in his vision. He also encouraged the other dwarves to use the chair.
The dwarves explained they had been getting free food from Zhargrave, and they expressed some attraction for the church, even it it seemed strange.
Ollie lit the brazier again, and they were bathed in the sweet incense. They carried the brazier away and stowed it on The Garlic Frog when they’d returned to town. With the full day of adventure concluded, they retired to the tavern where they once again found free drinks provided with entusiasm.
End Notes
- Days
- 9/15 – 9/26 12 days of downtime on Naked Isle
- 9/27 Imperial warship arrives
- 9/28 Exploration of the island
- Treasure: none
- Combat: 2175 xp
- 15 Winged Apes 145 xp each
- Characters (3.5 shares of 621 xp each)
- Aderian (human, fight) 689 xp
- Ollie (suspicious, underground, fight, leads) 646 xp
- Saul and Lion (under water, wilderness) 633 xp
- Ships
- The Garlic Frog (Caravel)
- Crew/Passengers: 10/ 25
- Hit Points: 60/75
- Cargo: 30 of 75 tons
- Food: 64 man/weeks (half ton)
- Water: 4760 gallons (20 tons)
- 2 tons of sugar, 2 tons of cocoa, 5 tons of lamp oil (34 barrels, 7 barrels/ton)
- The Garlic Frog (Caravel)